It was nice to be present at a gathering of local politicians on election night. These politicians really believe in their government’s potential to positively impact the lives of their constituents. They talk about education, transportation, healthcare, working together and generally how they can help create a better society. They hope to get elected. I think they should – especially when you compare them to the alternative.

I hope other people in the community will get involved in the political process. It is an opportunity for them to use their critical thinking ability for good. They won’t always be happy with how things are going. They will disagree with others at times. They will be better off, and so will I.

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Read, interact, think and create.

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I heard some good testimony tonight about making changes. I know many people that scoff at taking care of themselves. Our free enterprise system tends to send them down that path of self-destruction. I give a shout out to those that decide to use their critical thinking ability for good – even to better their own life. Eat well in a healthy way. Exercise with at least two rigorous workouts a week. Find a qualified coach to help. You and yours will be happy that you did.

There really isn’t a free ride in many market failures – just a short term gain with serious long term problems.

I was paid off by politicians and their financial supporters for years. They gave me tax cuts along with millions of other Americans. However, the debt still needed to be paid. It grew with every tax cut. It would now. Also, the shortage or rationing of government services was harming our nation’s infrastructure, environment and the economically less advantaged. I was paid off. Those short term tax rebates were intentional. They were designed to pacify the voter – to make me feel like everything was a-okay.

Things were not a-okay. They are not today. We need to pay our taxes to improve on what has been neglected and/or denigrated by the right wing, super free riders. It’s time to robustly improve our basic government goods and services. It’s time to make sure that all people are treated fairly and like they would like to be treated. It’s time to have real comfortable and safe housing communities for everyone, excellent transportation, an environment that is getting healthier at a faster and faster rate and healthcare for all that includes complete, holistic goods and services.

Market failures dominate our society, our nation and our world. Market failures poorly managed create super wealth for some and struggles for the rest. We need healthy markets. To be healthy markets need excellent regulatory conditions – not neglect. But, just like we need markets, we need government run by people that believe that it is not just important, but essential for our success. It’s time to help the economically less advantaged to increase their wealth much better and more securely than it has been. It’s time to make communities healthy all across this land. We can and should help others, too.

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The World Cup football tournament has been fascinating, but more than imperfect. While there are many talented and hard working athletes and officials involved, it has been much less than it could be. I have noticed that there are many other competitions and performances that are worthy of our attention. From gardening shows to horse cutting competitions to ballets and symphonies, there are many wonderful cultural activities to attend and/or lend my support. I am there.

Are you your surname? Let’s just say that you are much more than that, as cool as your last name might be.

Many of us have been raised with the idea that we are to honor our last name or surname. That is generally a good idea. Often we become very surname-centric about our concept of what our ancestry might be. Our ancestry is so much more complex and interesting than where our last name leads. We were thoughtfully loved by so many more ancestors than we might have ever imagined.

Most people realize that in the generally practiced naming convention of taking on the father’s last name, their mother is most likely to have a different last name. They usually don’t know any family names much beyond that. It is interesting to note that it is only in recent times that surnames have become handed down generation by generation. People used to take on surnames of all kinds prior to that, or they didn’t really use a surname as much as a second place name or just their name.

Whatever you were brought up as, you are much more than that. And, you are likely related to many, many more different ethnic backgrounds and races of people than you had thought of. If you are a Smith, Jones, Johnson, Williams or whatever, you have many other ancestors with many different backgrounds and names. Sure, some people have within recent generations become more homogenous than others, but the further you go back in time the more likely you are to find a grouping of very diverse ancestors.

I have looked at many family trees over the last year, and I have learned much about mine and the ancestors of others. I now associate many more names with my heritage including Ford, Franklin, Allen, Street, Raymond, Bosworth, Pearson, Sheldon, Hatch, Brown, Parker, Sims, Evans, James, Johnson, Morse, Mark, Davies, Sanford, Sinco, Gibson, Weeks, Choate, Laffoon, Riley, Phillips, and Pope. This is just but a few. I know I have descended from people from just about every country in Europe and have close or fairly close cousins from all over the Earth. And, it is amazing what they have been, done and accomplished, too.

Your name is worth honor, and your heritage is much greater than you can imagine You don’t need to know it with official verifiable documentation, but I wish you luck in finding out what you can. Honor each other.

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Read, interact, think and create.

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Yes, our government needs to balance the budget. In fact, we need to pay down the debt . . . lawmakers certainly expect voters to do so. We will spend more than we should at times, but we’ve got to pay it back. I think some people should pay more based on the ability-to-pay-principle.